Louie Wysocki, a broker for the Somers Family, holds up paperwork he says the family signed agreeing to offer their land up for sale to the Town of Hull.

By Brandi Makuski

About 200 residents from the Town of Hull gathered in the SPASH auditorium Wednesday night, many to opine on a proposed high-capacity well near two subdivisions just north of Jordan Lane.

According to documents submitted to the Dept. of Natural Resources, the new 70- foot well was expected to draw an average of 576,000 gallons of water daily between April and October, with a proposed maximum daily usage of 1.152 million gallons.

The application was submitted December 16 on behalf of the Plover River Farms Alliance, Inc. but the permit hasn’t been reviewed yet due to a backlog with the Dept. of Natural Resources, which has seen 200 applications for high-capacity wells from across the state since November of 2013. 14 of those applications are from Portage County.

About 60 residents from Hull have since signed a petition objecting to the well, slated for land owned by Nick and Diane Somers for agricultural use. Residents say they worried about water quality as well as potential water shortages should the well be approved by the DNR.

Town leaders voted down the proposed well, and also voted to accept an offer from the family to sell the land to Hull.

“They are both heartbroken over this,” said Louis Wysocki, the Somers’ broker who spoke on their behalf. “They had no idea this would cause any problems. I’m holding in my hand right now a genuine offer from the Somers’ Family to sell Hull the land, and a signed agreement saying they will not fight for the well. This is a small community and we’re all here to solve the problem.”

The Somers were present but did not address the audience.

The Town Board did vote to consider the Somers’ offer, although it was not on the meeting agenda, and heard fewer than ten other Hull residents voice their worries about water quality, as well as complaints about lack of transparency with the DNR.

The Town of Hull has until Sept. 3 to consider the offer & the Somers Family has said it will agree to a fair price for the land based on an independent assessor, to include a $1 down payment.

The City-Times will continue to follow this story.